Van Gerwen blames himself after ‘Painful’ Defeat

Michael Van Gerwen, the world number 1 revealed that his BetVictor World Matchplay defeat to eventual champion Phil Taylor was ‘painful’ after seeing his title defence come to an end.

Van Gerwen was bidding to claim a third successive triumph at the Winter Gardens but that was thwarted as a result of a shock 16-6 win in the favour of Taylor on Friday night in the Quarter-Finals

He had previously defeated Stephen Bunting and Simon Whitlock to set up a clash with ‘The Power’ but was heavily beaten due to his shortcomings on the doubles missing 21 in all with Taylor in his final Matchplay defying seemingly all odds to claim the victory.

“I wasn’t 100 percent and that’s my fault,” said Van Gerwen, speaking to RTL7. “I have to accept it, even though it’s painful.

“The last ten legs or so felt like torture but Phil played well. He took every chance to hurt me and I didn’t – I didn’t take any chances at all and that hurts, but I have to deal with that.

“My form wasn’t there and it wasn’t there in the first two matches as well. Looking at my average of 101 it’s not good enough when you play Phil – I missed so many doubles, I was poor.

“I don’t blame the crowd. These things happen in Rotterdam, Aberdeen and Germany as well and when you’re 100 percent focused you can deal with that.”